3 fantastiques ceintures noires

KILLER ARMY (1979) is one of the better entries in the series of films starring the five actors-martial artists collectively known as the Five Venoms (from their first film together, FIVE DEADLY VENOMS). It's a lavish historical kung fu adventure shot entirely on the sprawling studio sets of the Shaw Bros. Hong Kong studio. It has a strong script, excellent performances and an abundance of kung fu action featuring the three most colorful of the Venoms.

Set during a time of civil war in China, it focuses on the adventures of three refugees (played by Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng, and Lo Meng) who manage to get jobs, thanks to their kung fu skills, at a time when most refugees are brutalized by the various military and civil factions ruling the city. The emotional tone is set at the beginning as we see hordes of bedraggled and hungry refugees enter the city only to suffer the cruel whims of nasty and rapacious guards. We first meet one of the hero refugees, Kuo Chui, as he hides under a restaurant table eating stolen chicken and fights off the guards who catch him.

Later, when an army colonel is killed and the blame put on the three refugee heroes, the various factions scour the city searching for the three. One faction, the martial unit, believes the refugees' story and breaks with the other factions to shelter them. When a female brothel worker is forced to lure the three into a trap, the stage is set for a sprawling final battle amidst large sets representing the courtyards and dock areas of the city. Four of the Five Venoms are involved in the battle, along with various sword- and spear-wielding opponents.

The three main performers, Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng and Lo Meng, are all superb fighters and fine actors. The fight scenes are as good as any Venoms fights I've seen, with lots of straight kung fu as well as assorted weapons work including Kuo Chui's expert use of a three-section staff. The remaining two Venoms, Lu Feng and Sun Chien, play the leaders of different factions and do a relatively small amount of fighting. They are joined in the villain department by frequent Venom co-star (and unofficial 6th Venom) Wang Li. Overall, this is a must-see for Venoms fans, although the current version in regular distribution in the U.S. is missing about 12 minutes of footage.

ADDENDUM: In 2006, Celestial Pictures (HK) released a restored and remastered edition of this film on Region 3 DVD under the film's original title, THE REBEL INTRUDERS, in Mandarin with English subtitles. The film's running time on this DVD is 95 min., which is 8 min. longer than the Ground Zero VHS edition cited above.

Dr. Craig D. Reid in his book "The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970's" writes that "...every film has its moments." That is true here. Cut to about 24 minutes in for the fight at the casino. Think back to all the old time movies where you saw a crowded dance floor. Enter our guy and girl and they start dancing up a storm. Yes, just like the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life". The crowd stops dancing and circles around to watch the two best dancers. In this movie there is a brawl in the casino. Two of the Venoms start displaying good kung fu. Little by little the other fighters notice the class act going on center stage and stop fighting to watch two guys who really know their chops. I love it! Who was the genius that thought of this scene? Thank you for that moment.

THE REBEL INTRUDERS in an enjoyable entry from Shaw Brothers, directed by the prolific Chang Cheh. There's hardly any plot to speak of ... three jobless and hungry guys meet in a town run by kung fu gangsters and form an alliance. The rest of the running time is taken up with wall-to-wall fights, each more frantic than the last.

But there's one thing that puzzled me about the film. One of the bad guys wore a twist of red cord around his chest over his white jacket ... does anyone know what that means in Chinese culture. I've seen it other kung fu movies as well ... for instance, in Two Champions of Death/Shaolin, Feng Lu wears a similar red cord. If you do know what this signifies, please post the answer in the Trivia section. I'd be extremely grateful ...

Most of the Venoms, minus Pai Wei (Snake), reunite for this convoluted gang action film. A lesser effort from Chang Cheh and the Venoms who apparently choreographed their own fight scenes if the credits are to be taken seriously.

The movie starts with scenes of refugees pouring into the city as a warlord from the north makes his way into southern China. The southern warlord through his general puts the local kung fu gangs in charge of keeping the city in order and making sure the refugees stay in line. Played by Lu Feng, the top gang leader puts the other three gangs in charge of the different directions in the city. Each gang has a kung fu specialty, one does "Fast Swords, another "Sword and shields", another "Iron Fist" which is a strange small fist shaped club and finally the very odd "rubber spring" Spear. The next ten minutes is devoted to depictions of torture or compassion towards the refugees by the gangs. That out of the way we finally meet the heroes, Phillip Kwok, Lo Meng and Chiang Sheng. All refugees they immediately get into fights with the gangs but are rewarded with jobs for their good kung fu. The movie ambles along with an extended fight scene in a gambling house. Finally the plot kicks in as the gang leader decides to double cross the southern warlord, kill the southern general and blame our heroes for the deed. Our heroes escape but have to pass each gang before they can get to the safety of Mr. Deng, played by Sun Chien, a kindly gang leader.

The plot is no great achievement, it's rather standard for Chang Cheh films for this period. The interesting refugee angle is swept under an unremarkable gang story. The earlier "5 Deadly Venoms" or "The Crippled Avengers" have much better plot lines. The fight scenes are elaborate and contain a lot of the Venom action you want, however the choreography is erratic. Phillip Kwok is very good and is usually fighting with a bench of some sort or a three section staff. Lo Meng is his usual hard fighting style. Chiang Sheng does his usual acrobatics but doesn't really get going until the finale. The action is good but doesn't come close to the inspired fighting in 'Crippled Avengers". Many scenes seemed to be written to showcase some fighting gimmick, like ropes or the mentioned rubber spears. Overall the pacing of the film is stiff with too many scenes waiting for the costumed gang members to walk across the shot and get into another standing position. There is some classic Cheh style gore for those who care.

Good for the Venom action but not much else.